Chapter 5

Chapter 5

It was during the winter of the Yong’an Seventeenth Year that I truly resolved to take the most ruthless path.

That year, a blizzard ravaged the Northern Frontier, and refugees swarmed into the Capital City. Shen Xingjian advocated for closing the city gates, the Si Family planned to use the crisis to hike grain prices, and Pei Chengli intended to embezzle the disaster relief funds to fill his private treasury. Everyone in the imperial court was busy calculating-calculating their career prospects, calculating their silver. No one spared a thought for the rows upon rows of people freezing to death outside the city walls.

Xie Wuyang led the Imperial Guard to the city gates to suppress the unrest. When he returned, he was covered in blood.

It wasn’t his; it belonged to the commoners.

He came to see me late that night, his voice hoarse. “Mingyi, if we delay any longer, it won’t just be the people outside the city who die.”

I knew that, of course.

Pei Chengli’s old illness had seeped into his bones. The Si Family was quietly moving private troops into the Capital City, and Shen Xingjian was secretly in contact with several veteran ministers. They were waiting for the Emperor to die so they could enthrone the child of unknown origin in Si Yuesheng’s womb. If Pei Zhaoxu remained in the palace, he wouldn’t survive past next spring.

There was only one path left for me.

In Pei Zhaoxu’s name, I would force all the hidden factions in the capital into the light. Then, I would use the sharpest and most trustworthy blade to carve out this bloody path for me.

That blade could only be Xie Wuyang.

I wrote the plan on paper. When I reached the third line, my brush tip stalled for a long time.

Yanhui Ridge.

It was the shortest route to the Western Mountain Camp, but also the best place for an ambush. The Si Family had troops lying in wait there; Shen Xingjian’s men were stationed at the second mountain pass; and the suicide squads raised by Pei Chengli guarded the rear cliffs.

The moment the news was leaked, all three factions would pounce.

I knew.

I knew better than anyone that it was a path to certain death.

But only by doing this would everyone’s blades be drawn at the same time.

I revised the route over and over, calculating every possible chance of survival. In the end, I realized that as long as Xie Wuyang personally escorted the carriage, those people would believe it, they would pursue it, and they would drag the armies they had hidden for years out into the sunlight.

In other words, if he went, it was unlikely he would return.

I didn’t sleep all night.

At dawn, Xie Wuyang entered the palace to report. I called him into the side hall. My palms were slick with cold sweat, yet my expression remained steady. “I want you to escort Pei Zhaoxu out of the palace.”

He was taken aback. “Now?”

“Now. Leave tonight.”

“You’re finally making your move?”

“Yes.”

He looked at me. He didn’t immediately ask about the route, the troop strength, or the backup. He just looked at me, as if trying to see how much truth and how much ruthlessness lay in the depths of my eyes.

I almost didn’t dare to meet his gaze. I turned and handed him the secret order I had already prepared. “Follow this.”

He took it and read it for a long time.

The hall was too quiet-so quiet that I could hear my own heartbeat, thumping one after another like a death knell.

Xie Wuyang suddenly spoke. “If I leave, what about your side?”

“I will strike within the palace and force Pei Chengli and Si Yuesheng to openly turn against each other first.”

“And Shen Xingjian?”

“He’ll hold back his bets. Once something happens on your end, he will definitely side with the Si Family.”

He gave a soft grunt of affirmation and folded the secret order into his sleeve, appearing not to notice anything amiss.

But I felt even worse.

I would have preferred him to ask, to question me, or even to coldly throw the secret order back in my face. Anything was better than this calm.

“Xie Wuyang,” I couldn’t help but call out to him.

He turned back. “What is it?”

My throat felt parched. A thousand words were on the tip of my tongue, but in the end, only one sentence remained: “Make sure you get Pei Zhaoxu out safely.”

He looked at me quietly for a moment, then suddenly smiled. “Alright.”

At that moment, I almost told him not to go.

But in the end, I said nothing.

Because I knew that the moment I softened my heart, the Cui Family, Marquis Xie, the commoners freezing to death outside the city, and Pei Zhaoxu would all die with me.

I didn’t have the right to be soft-hearted.

At least, that was the lie I told myself back then.